Imagine boarding a flight to a tropical island vacation, only to realise that you’ve landed in a frigid place with sub-zero temperatures. It’s an easy enough mistake to make, if both places share the same name!
Click start to play today’s Crossword, where you can spot cities around the world that have been named twice.
Oddly enough, many cities around the world share the same name – and often, there is no connection between them. Here are five that you need to know, so that your travel plans don’t go haywire at the last minute:
1. Memphis
One is an ancient city in Egypt, and the other is the birthplace of rock and roll (Tennessee, US). The Egyptian city obviously came first. The founders of Memphis, Tennessee, decided to name their city after the famous eastern location because both cities lie on the banks of famous rivers – the Nile and the Mississippi.
2. Melbourne
The city of Melbourne in Florida, US, was named after the larger metropolis in Australia. The area began to be called Melbourne eight years before the town was officially established, to serve the needs of the local post office, which needed a home address for the rapidly growing city.
3. Lebanon
Don’t expect delicious humus and kibbeh if you find yourself in Lebanon, New Hampshire, in the US, as opposed to the Middle Eastern country by the same name. Actually, there are 47 different cities in the US named Lebanon – the name gained popularity in the 1700s because it has biblical roots.
4. Grenada/Granada
Although Granada in Spain, and the island of Grenada in the Caribbean Sea both have the same name, they are spelled differently. The origin of the name Grenada is ambiguous, but it’s likely that Spanish sailors renamed the Caribbean island for the city in Spain.
5. Naples
When Naples in Florida, US, was being developed back in the 1880s, the editor of a local paper described the area as more beautiful than the Bay of Naples, in Italy. The comparison was an attempt to attract mega-developers to the new town – and it worked. The city is one of the wealthiest in the US, to date.
Did you know about these cities? Play today’s Crossword and tell us at games@gulfnews.com.